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GoFa cobots on AMRs at XtalPi. Supply: ABB
Laboratory automation includes repetitive however exacting processes. XtalPi and ABB Robotics this week stated they’ve entered a strategic partnership to provide a variety of automated laboratory workstations in China.
The businesses stated that ABB’s GoFa collaborative robots and XtalPi’s software program will enhance analysis and improvement productiveness in biopharmaceuticals, chemical engineering and chemistry, and new-energy supplies.
“By way of partnering with ABB, we will enhance effectivity in laboratories by implementing a human-robot integration mannequin,” stated Chenxi Zhang, director of automation product administration at XtalPi, in a launch. “We hope to mix XtalPi’s clever software program system and business expertise with ABB’s experience in robotics to convey extra progressive options to the pharmaceutical business.”
He added that the brand new joint providing may assist enhance robotics and AI adoption within the sciences. The worldwide marketplace for laboratory robotics may increase from $185.8 million in 2020 to $274.49 million by 2026 at a compound annual development fee (CAGR) of 6.72%, predicted Mordor Intelligence. It cited the necessity for accuracy and security.
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XtalPi makes use of greater than 100 cobots
Based in 2014 at MIT, XtalPi applies synthetic intelligence and robotics to digital transformation within the life science and new-materials industries. The firm has 989 staff, together with greater than 700 scientists and technologists, in Cambridge, Mass., in addition to in Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzhen, China.
In 2022, XtalPi purchased over 100 GoFa cobots to automate lab workstations at its testing facility in Shanghai. This 12 months, it formally launched the XtalPi Clever Automation model to help researchers.
XtalPi Clever Automation makes use of ABB’s cobots to automate the synthesis and crystallization processes concerned in creating new medicine and supplies. The workstations could be personalized to fulfill particular necessities, utilizing totally different modules to finish numerous experiment steps.
ABB stated its GoFa can tackle repetitive, handbook duties whereas additionally working nonstop to speed up the tempo of experimentation. By producing giant volumes of high-quality knowledge, the system can assist enhance the effectivity of the “design-make-test-analyze” analysis cycle, stated the companions.
XtalPi added automation to an array of lab workstations. Supply: ABB
GoFa handles a wide range of lab duties
XtalPi Clever Automation makes use of GoFa to develop preparation, diluting and filtration, response, UPLC (ultra-performance liquid chromatography) testing, and so-called glovebox workstations. XtalPi stated it additionally works with pattern warehouses and automatic guided autos (AGVs) to make R&D sooner and extra environment friendly.
Every automated workstation can carry out lots of of various experiments, with ABB’s cobots working in a variety of difficult environments. These embody glove bins with no moisture or oxygen.
GoFa can carry out complicated duties equivalent to opening lids and putting lab gear, dealing with liquids, including samples, and doing magnetic stirring with minimal supervision, stated ABB.
AMRs geared up with GoFa cobots switch samples robotically between workstations, growing effectivity whereas additional lowering prices. ABB acquired AMR supplier ASTI in 2021 and built-in and rebranded the robots below its Flexley line.
Geared up with a GoFa cobot and 4 rotating columns, automated pattern warehouses can retailer and retrieve laboratory reagents. This improves high quality management and makes the method extra traceable, the businesses claimed.
XtalPi makes use of GoFa for a wide range of testing duties. Supply: ABB
ABB continues healthcare growth
“Our collaboration with XtalPi marks one other milestone for ABB’s collaborative robots within the life sciences sector,” acknowledged Jose-Manuel Collados, supervisor of the service robotics product Line at ABB Robotics. “ABB Robotics and XtalPi will radically advance lab analysis and improvement by way of automation that works facet by facet with folks.”
“By enabling pharma and biotech firms to develop new medicine sooner and with much less price, ABB helps to additional analysis into illness prevention, creating more healthy societies,” he stated. “Our new Open Innovation Lab for Life Science and Healthcare in Zhangjiang, Shanghai, enhances our work at our Life Sciences and Healthcare Lab on the Texas Medical Middle Campus in Houston.”
That is ABB Robotics’ newest undertaking within the lab automation market, whose income was $5.1 billion in 2022 and will rise to $7.1 billion in 2028, in response to Markets and Markets.
ABB Robotics & Discrete Automation claimed that it’s the solely firm with an built-in portfolio together with industrial automation, cellular robots, and methods designed and orchestrated by its software program. Auburn Hills, Mich.-based ABB Robotics stated it serves sectors starting from automotive and electronics to logistics.
The enterprise space of Zurich-based ABB Group employs about 11,000 folks at greater than 100 areas worldwide. In June, it opened U.S. packaging and logistics headquarters in Atlanta.
